WSF Weekly Report | Half way thru World Cup; 75th anniversary wrap-up

||| FROM STEVE NEVEY for WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES |||

A message from Steve

As we reach the midpoint of Seattle’s six FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches, I’m pleased to report our service has successfully managed demand. We have spent months, and in some ways years, preparing for higher ridership and busier terminals. We built in extra resilience for this event by planning for relief vessels. These boats can step in if another ferry has a mechanical problem that cannot be fixed quickly. This kind of backup is not something we normally have in place. Due to the size of our fleet, almost all our ferries are usually in service or out for maintenance and preservation work. This added flexibility is a testament to the hard work of our vessel engineering, maintenance and engine room teams who helped ensure our fleet was ready for the big stage. We also added extra support on the staffing side, particularly on match days. This includes additional vessel crew, more terminal and customer service staff, traffic control officers at terminals and enhanced security.

June 19 was our busiest match day so far with 13,000 more riders than on the same Friday last year.

Ridership has been strong on match days. Nearly 57,000 people rode on June 15 for the first match. We had more than 83,000 riders on Juneteenth for the second match featuring Team USA. About 61,000 rode yesterday for the third match. All of these are higher than comparable days from 2025. For comparison, our busiest day so far this year was Saturday, May 23, when more than 89,000 people rode our ferries. Juneteenth is now our busiest weekday of the year, surpassing Friday, May 22, which had more than 79,000 riders. We’ve also noticed a shift toward more walk-on passengers and fewer vehicles on match days. This is especially true on routes serving Seattle to Bainbridge and Bremerton. This aligns with our messaging that walking or biking is often the fastest way to get downtown during major events as Colman Dock is close to Pioneer Square and the stadiums. Behind the scenes, our emergency operations center will be partially activated on the remaining match days. This helps improve coordination and support for employees and customers. It allows us to respond quickly if needs change. We remain flexible and focused on providing safe, steady and well-coordinated service during this exciting event.

Fish and Wildlife rule helps keep ferry lanes clear during crabbing season

Summer in the Pacific Northwest brings more people out on the water to fish and harvest seafood. With recreational crabbing season set to begin Thursday, July 2, in much of the Salish Sea, we want to remind everyone to be aware of where and how gear is set, especially in busy waterways. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has a rule in place that limits where fishing gear can be set near our terminals. Crab and shrimp gear may not be placed from a vessel within 100 yards on either side of our ferry landings or within 400 yards seaward. At Coupeville, the buffer extends 800 yards from the dock. The rule also prohibits commercial purse seine and gillnet fishing in these areas. Hook-and-line fishing is still allowed. This matters for all of us because fishing gear in ferry lanes can create serious safety hazards.

Entanglements have led to costly vessel repairs and, in some cases, hundreds of canceled sailings that affect our customers and communities.

37 years of supporting Camp Goodtimes

One of the things I value most about our ferry system is meaningful ways we support the communities we serve. For the past 37 years, we’ve been proud to support Camp Goodtimes by sharing our Vashon passenger-only dock. During two camp sessions each summer, children with cancer and their siblings take a special boat ride donated by Argosy Cruises. For many campers, it’s one of the highlights of their week at Camp Burton on Vashon Island. It’s a small way we can help create lasting memories, and we’re honored to continue this longtime tradition.

We loaned our Vashon terminal passenger-only dock to Camp Goodtimes’ first of two camps on Tuesday. We’ll loan it again in July.

Help us wrap up our 75th anniversary month

Thank you to everyone who has helped us celebrate our 75th anniversary this month. It has been great to see customers, colleagues and communities come together to mark this milestone. Don’t worry – there’s still one more chance to join in the fun. On Tuesday, June 30, we’ll host our final onboard dance party with KNHC-FM C89.5 Public Radio on our Seattle/Bremerton route. Music will fill the sun deck during the 2:50 p.m. sailing out of Seattle and 4:15 p.m. from Bremerton. Our team will also hand out free 75th anniversary keepsakes, including commemorative keychains and temporary tattoos, while supplies last. If you’re traveling with us that day, I hope you’ll stop by, enjoy the music and help us close out this special month of celebrating 75 years serving Washington’s communities.

The sun deck of Spokane turned into a floating dance floor Thursday as passengers enjoyed a music mix from DJ Harmony Soleil on our Edmonds/Kingston route.

Sailing stats for week of June 15-21

For the week of June 15-21, our systemwide on-time performance (sailings that left within 10 minutes of their scheduled departure) was 77.5%. By comparison, it was 78.5% during a similar week last year (June 16-22, 2025). To view our on-time performance by month going back to 2017, visit our on-time performance reports page.

Customer kudos

“I want You to know what a great (terminal) employee (Tracey Payne) is. She usually moves cars on the dock at Fauntleroy but yesterday she was manning a booth. She is really good at her job! She’s sharp, efficient, friendly and professional.  Friendly and professional is always great, but she really knows what she’s doing which in my opinion is the most important part. She should be a manager if she is not already.”

-Fauntleroy/Vashon/Southworth route customer